



» +- >, ■> 

i V I Hf 


Ml 


\j 


EXTRACTS FROM REPORTS 


OF AN 


EXAMINATION OF THE COAL MEASURES 


BELONGING TO 


THE MARYLAND MINING COMPANY, 


IN ALLEGANY COUNTY; 


, AND OF A 


SURVEY FOR A RAILROAD 


TROM 


THE MINES TO THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL, 


AT CUMBERLAND, 


r* i 


By GEORGE W. HUGHES, 


UNITED STATES CIVIL ENGINEER. 


TOGETHER WITH 


THE MEMORIAL TO THE LEGISLATURE OF MARYLAND, 


AND OTHER DOCUMENTS, 


• 4 ** 


WASHINGTON: 


PRINTED BY GALES AND SEATON. 


1837 . 

































cxr 




•• ' -rf ■ 


t >4'i n v '>' 




' \ 








' 




/ 


MARYLAND MINING COMPANY. 


1 o the Honorable the General Assembly cf Maryland: 

The memorial of the President of the “ Maryland Mining Company 
acting under instructions from the stockholders , respectfully represents: 

That they have, during the year 1835, purchased, at the point nearest to 
and immediately west of the terminus of the eastern section of the Chesa¬ 
peake and Ohio Canal, about 1,750 acres of coal lands, containing more 
than thirty-eight millions of tons of bituminous coal; and that on said lands 
there are very extensive deposites of iron ore, being, at some points, from 
twenty to thirty feet thick, covering, according to the best examinations, near 
one thousand acres. 

The importance of these deposites to the Company, to the county of Al¬ 
leghany, and to the State of Maryland, has been considered so great as to 
induce the stockholders to authorize your memorialist to bring the subject 
before your honorable bodies, with a view of obtaining other and greater 
facilities for working said mines than the Company now have under their 
charter, and to claim that protection and encouragement which have been 
extended by other States to individuals and companies, operating in the same 
materials. 

Your honorable bodies are well aware that the States of New York, New 
Jersey, and Pennsylvania, have applied their legislative and moneyed powers 
for the protection of those engaged in the excavation and use of their minerals. 
Virginia, too, is waking up, determined to press her fossil products into 
market; and your memorialist hopes that the requests hereinafter set forth 
will be granted, believing, as he does, that, in so doing, the Legislature will 
act within their acknowledged powers; will be placing the Company on 
grounds, which will enable them successfully to compete with adversary in¬ 
terests without the bounds of the State, and go far in securing to herself 
abundant and lasting returns for all her investments made, or to be made, in 
that pre-eminent work, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. 

Your memorialist most respectfully begs to assure the Legislature, that he 
desires nothing like monopoly for the Company which he represents. There 
may be others, whose claims will be presented; to them we extend the hand 
of fellowship, and pray for their success. 

Under the instructions of your memorialist, hereto annexed, he requests 
that the existing capital of the Company, now consisting of two thousand 
shares of one hundred dollars each, be increased to one million of dollars, 
by an authority to issue certificates for the same number of shares of five 
hundred dollars each. - 

Various calculations might be presented to show the worth of the property; 
let the following suffice: 

Thirty-eight millions of tons, at twenty-eight bushels per ton, 
will give 1,064,000,000 bushels. If the coal be worth in 
the mines one cent per bushel, the value would be - $10,640,000 

Add one cent profit on sales, - 21,280,000 

Add two cents profit on sales, - 31,920,000 



The above calculations exclude every estimate ot the value of the ote 
banks, which are calculated by many to he worth more than the coal. 

If to this be added the fixtures, railroad, engines, furnaces, forges, and 
cars, which will cost from $150,000 to $200,000, it will be evident that one 
million falls far short of a reasonable estimate. 

Another mode of estimating may be presented. 

350 men, with 50 supernumeraries,Svill excavate 367,500 tons per annum, 
or 10,290,000 bushels. At one cent profit per bushel, the income would be 
$102,900, or an interest of 6 per cent, on about $1,700,000. Assume, lor 
a moment, that on this coal may be realized, what we know is done elsewheie, 
to wit, one dollar per ton, and you have for the product ol 400 men and boys 
$367,500; an interest on more than six millions of dollars. 

Should the Company carry on business to the extent mentioned above, it 
will be obvious that an immense amount of money will be required from time 
to time, and that, without facility to command its use, their operations must 
necessarily be cramped. 

It is perfectly understood by the Company that, in order to compete with 
other coal fields, their profits on sales must be small, and that the heavy ex¬ 
penditures must all precede the returns of sales. 

Calculating the cost of labor, transportation, tolls, and freight of the above- 
mentioned number of tons, to New York, to amount to five dollars pel ton, 
the sum expended by the Company would be $1,837,500, neaily tlnee 
fourths of which would be payable at the mines, on the canal, and in the 
District of Columbia; thereby giving subsistence and profit on labor to several 
thousand of their fellow-citizens. 

Your memorialist has, therefore, been instructed to ask for power to take 
additional subscriptions, in order to create a bank with a capital of five hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars, under such restrictions, and on such terms, as the 
Legislature may deem proper. 

By the charter under which said Company is now acting, they have the 
power to purchase and hold real and personal estate, and, of course, to ac¬ 
quire and hold a right of way from their coal mines to the point of junction 
with the canal. In pursuance of this power, said Company has secured, by 
purchase, near the town of Cumberland, extensive grounds for depositing 
their coal; but some difficulties have presented themselves in securing, by the 
same means, the right of way for their railroad. 

The extent of the road beyond their own grounds may be about thirteen 
miles, running, with the exception of about two miles, entirely in woodland, 
on the side of mountains, the value of which is but a few dollars per acre; 
and it is thought that the cleared land is not at any point, except one, and 
that for a few rods only, worth more than from five to fifteen dollars. There 
are only seven proprietors, as far as the lines could be ascertained, and among 
them are three families of minors, from whom no rights could be secured. 

With most of those who have power to sell, it is known that there would 
be no difficulty, nor indeed has any objection arisen from any quarter. Your 
memorialist, however, has concluded that it would be more satisfactory to all 
parties to have the property valued by a jury of their own county, and there¬ 
fore prays that the ordinary power of condemnation may be granted; thus 
securing to the Company, what is absolutely necessary for extensive opera¬ 
tions, the entire untrammelled use of their own road. 

Knowing, as your memorialist does,the interest which your honorable bodies 
have heretofore manifested in bringing into use the mineral riches of the 
mountain region, and having participated in the general feeling of approbation 


3 


0 1 le act0 ^ the last Legislature, which gave a new impulse to the operations 
on the canal, he cannot but embrace the present opportunity of declaring 
what he thinks will be the practical results to the State. 

If there be a canal any where leading from a coal region of importance, 
^hkh has been in operation long enough to test the result, and does not yield 
much more than ordinary interest on the investment, it has escaped the 
observation or recollection ol the memorialist; nor does he think that the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal will form the exception. 

Should the whole county of Alleghany only send down the same amount of 
< oal as that contemplated by the Maryland Mining Company, 735,000 tons 
svould be annually transported, which, at ninety-three cents toll per ton down- 
naids, excluding the tonnage on the boats and the ascending toll, would give 
the amount of $683,500, or an interest of six per cent, on more than 
811,000,000. 

That a large amount of iron will eventually be brought down, and that the 
ordinary transportation of agricultural products and merchandise will be im¬ 
mense, your memorialist cannot doubt. 

Having thus made known the wishes and prayer of the Company, which has 
identified itself with the interests and prosperity of the State, your memorialist 
leaves the result to the deliberation and wisdom of her Representatives. 

And, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &,c. 

MATTHEW ST. CLAIR CLARKE, 

January' 30, 1836. President Maryland Mining Company. 


B. 

To Samuel Swartwoijt, Louis McLane, and others. 

New York, July 3, 1835. 

Gentlemen: Fearing that the representations made by me concerning the 
coal mines, a part of which I have sold you, might be considered extrava¬ 
gant, I beg leave to lay before you the following statement and documents. 

Having stated to you that the position of mv mines was peculiarly favora¬ 
ble in regard to shortness of distance from Cumberland , facility of trans¬ 
portation to that point, practicability of excavation , and extent or abundance 
of coal , I now beg leave to refer you to the following papers: 


C. 

Washington, May 8, 1835. 

My Dear Captain: I am exceedingly anxious to have the survey made 
of which I spoke. Allow me to detail what 1 want: 

1. A profile of the national road from Clary’s to Cumberland. 

2. The elevation and profile from Clary’s to a bench between my two 
mines, as opened, for a railroad or tramroad. 

3. A protraction of the “ Vale” and Hoffman farms together. 

4. Taking the apertures of my mines, or the bench, as you please, as a 
given point, show me the elevation and distance to the top of the hill towards 
the Yale mansion at Preston’s mine, and its distance from my lines; the de¬ 
pression below the house where coal has been found; the distance on George’s 
creek, and direction in which the ten feet vein is found; the other points on 
the “ Yale” where coal has been found; the direction in which the Frostburg 
mines lie, and about the distance, without measuring. What is the direction 
of the coal region from the Vale? 

w 


/ 


4 


5. The elevation of the hill from the Hoffman mine; the direction of the 
Eckhart mine; how far from my lines to it; the direction of the Messrs. Hoye 
and Porter’s mines; and how far from my lines. 

6. A radiation, (terminating each radius at one of the ten feet coal mines— 
say Jack Porter’s, Col. Blair’s, Neff’s, &c.,) giving a computed distance. 
These radii may emanate from the exterior lines of the two surveys, taking 
the bench between my two mines as the point of radiation. 

7. What is the distance from where the ground was first broken to where 
my Vale mine shows the ten feet'? the degree of elevation of the vein as it 
enters into the hill, so as to clear the drainage or not; and so as to the Hoff¬ 
man mines? 

8. Your impression, from an observation of all circumstances, as to the 
extent of the ten feet vein under both surveys; and whether there be gene¬ 
rally a three feet vein also found on the Yale, &-c. 

9. Designate by an arrow the courses in which the several mines are worked. 

10. What number of slate strata, are usually found in the ten feet vein, and 
their thickness; and how many are in the mine of the “ Yale?” 

11. What are your impressions as to transportation on the McAdamized 
road from Clary’s? and what do you think two mules could draw, and at what 
speed? 

12. What is the present price charged for coal at the pit’s mouth? what 
can it be dug for? what is the present cost of transportation to Cumberland? 
and what is the weight of the coal per bushel? and what would be the proba¬ 
ble cost per bushel for transportation, by the tram, to Clary’s, and thence, 
by mules, to Cumberland? 

13. What is the distance to Westernport mines? What do you think of 
the relative positions of the two regions, as regards the result from mining? 

14. Are there any mines so near to Clary’s as mine, or possessing the same 
facilities of transportation by tram or railroad? 

15. What is the general opinion as to the favorable position of my mines? 

16. Are Mr. Roberts’s calculations and reports considered generally correct? 

Please, in addition to your topographical exhibits, to answer the above in¬ 
terrogatories seriatim , if you can. 

If possible, I would like your return in ten days. Whatever expenses you 
are at for help will be discharged by me when I come up. 

Yery truly, &c. 

MATTHEW ST. CLAIR CLARKE. 

To Capt. John Pickell, 

U. S. Engineer , Frostburg . 

D. 

Frostburg, Alleghany County, Md., 

My Dear Sir: May 26, 1835. 

1 or the purpose of replying to the several interrogatories in your com¬ 
munication, of the 8th instant, I have made the necessary surveys and exam¬ 
inations of the several tracts of land you recently purchased in the coal 
region of this county. Under the head ot “ references,” on the map marked 
“ A,” you will find the information you call for by the first seven and the ninth 
questions. In relation to the remaining interrogatories, I have collected all 
the data deemed essential to answer fully the questions you have propounded, 
and I am now enabled to give you all the information upon the several sub¬ 
jects embraced in your communication. 


5 


The number of acres of land included in the several contiguous tracts you 
have purchased is 1,054; and, with the exception of perhaps eight acres, is 
underlaid throughout with the deep or ten feet vein of coal. From the new 
opening on the south side of the south branch of Braddock’s run, a line of 
levels was carried, passing as near as could be across the middle of the Vale 
tract to the mansion, and intercepting the summit of the hill in which the new 
opening was excavated, and the lowest point of the “ Flaggy meadow,” north¬ 
east of the house, as marked upon the plat. The highest point of the profile 
is 232jo 1 ^g- feet, and the lowest point 134 T 8 ^ G 0 2 5 feet above the new opening. 
The dip or depression of the vein is to the northeast, and rises in the direc¬ 
tion of the mansion, at the rate of about six inches to the 100 feet, making 
the depth of the superincumbent earth, at the lowest point of the “Flaggy 
meadow” to the upper surface of the coal, 99 feet. 

Each acre of ground in the deep vein contains 435,600 cubic feet of coal; 
one bushel weighs a fraction less than eighty pounds, making twenty-eight 
bushels to the ton; the number of tons, therefore, in 1,000 acres, is 15,546,428. 

To realize this immense amount of coal, 1 have made a calculation show¬ 
ing more clearly the great value and extent of the coal you have recently ob¬ 
tained by your purchase. Taking 300 working days to the year, it will em¬ 
ploy fifty diggers, excavating 100 bushels each, daily, 290 years to exhaust 
the deep vein. 

The three and a half feet vein lies from 40 to 60 feet above the deep 
vein, and exhibits itself at several places on the “ Vale,” in a northeasterly 
direction from the mansion, and is broken by the branch running into George’s 
creek. This vein occupies from 900 to 1,000 acres, and the coal is consid¬ 
ered of the very best quality, having less sulphur and a less intermixture of 
slate and other earthy substances than the other vein. The deep vein con¬ 
tains three strata of slate, varying in depth from one to three inches. The 
depth, from the upper surface of the overlaying slate stratum to the entrance 
based upon slate, is fifteen feet. 

The length of the experimental line of survey, from the national road at 
Clary’s, to the bench between your two mines, is 270 rods, and the rise 
300 t 3 q 2 q°q feet. Were it advisable to reduce the inclination in the construction 
of a railroad from the pits to the depot, the national road could be intersected 
west of the South branch, by which 40 or 50 feet could be gained. This, 
however, I do not think important. The point of intersection ought to be 
east of Clary’s tavern. Better ground for the location, and in my opinion, 
of easier construction, is obtained by crossing the South branch at the first 
favorable point below its junction with the Preston branch, and then keeping 
near the foot of Dan’s mountain, direct to the national road, and intersecting 
it in as acute an angle as practicable. By this location, the only rise to Cum¬ 
berland, of 250 yards, at about one and a half degree, will be avoided. 

The average inclination of the national road to Cumberland is 106 feet in 
a mile. This inclination, being in the direction of the heavier tonnage, makes 
it highly favorable to the purposes of transportation of coal from the depot. 
Two good mules or draught horses will carry, with ease, on a McAdamized 
road, in cars with friction axles, five tons, equal to 140 bushels. 

The expenditure of the liberal appropriation made by the last Congress 
for the repairs of the national road upon the McAdam plan, would render un¬ 
necessary the construction of a railroad from the proposed depot to Cumber¬ 
land, the present contemplated terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. 
An improved communication, however, from the bench or depository of the 
coal below the pits, to the national road, would be desirable. Tram railroads 


6 


are generally adapted to collieries, as preferable to the edge or plate rails for 
the transportation of coal from the mines to the depot, and for short distances, 
A tramroad would save in the transportation to the depot more than fifty per 
cent. The inclination of the valley from the bench being three and a quarter 
degrees, breaks would be required to regulate the velocity of the loaded cars 
in descending the plane. 

The distance from the pits to the national road, near which the proposed 
depot would be located, is less than one mile; and, the inclination being nearly 
equally distributed throughout the line, with gentle curvatures, a self-regula¬ 
ting inclined plane would have a decided superiority, in point of economy and 
speed, to any other plan that could be adopted in the transportation of the 
coal to the depot. The expense of the moving power would be entirely ob¬ 
viated, as the greater gravity of the descending or loaded cars would draw up 
the empty cars. 

The position of your coal is peculiarly favorable. By the purchase of the 
Hoffman tract, you have not only added to your quantity of coal land, but 
secured the almost entire possession and control of the valley of the south 
branch of Braddock’s run, in which the pits will be opened. This is an im¬ 
portant object; and, in the extensive operations you design, it leaves you com¬ 
pletely free and unembarrassed in making whatever improvements you may 
require to prosecute successfully and extensively the coal trade. 

The facilities of working the mines under the “ Vale ” and Hoffman tracts; 
the favorable inclination of the deep vein; its great extent; the short distance 
of the pits from the national road; the adaptation of the gound to a tramroad, 
or a self-regulating inclined plane; and the local advantages of the natural 
bench between the two mines, as a general depot for coal near the entrances, 
give, altogether, a character and value to your coal tracts, for extensive opera¬ 
tions, unequalled by any others in this section of the country. 

The distance to Cumberland is nearly half a mile less than any other pit at 
present opened;* and, from the minute examination that has been made for 
the last few years of the country intermediate, and in the neighborhood of 
Cumberland, it is almost a certainty that the ten feet vein terminates on the 
south side of the hill in which the new opening is made, and does not extend 
beyond the Preston branch. 

Westernport is thirty and a quarter miles by the Potomac from Cumber¬ 
land, and its elevation above Cumberland 322 feet. If the basin of the canal 
be supplied by means of a feeder from the river, it will leave 297 feet to be 
overcome by lockage from the head of the feeder, six miles above Cumber¬ 
land, to YVesternport, requiring thirty-nine locks, of eight feet lift each,to reach 
the Westernport coal region; and the whole expense of this improvement, ac¬ 
cording to the estimate of Mr. Roberts, is $954,214, equal to $30,942 per 
mile. This view is presented in contrast with the superior local and other 
advantages appertaining to your coal tracts, to satisfy you that competition 
on the part of the Westernport coal, to supply Cumberland or the eastern 
markets at as cheap a rate, cannot for a moment be entertained. 

The coal in this section is at present excavated and wheeled to the mouths 
of the pits at one cent per bushel. A good digger can get out 100 bushels a 
day; the cost of transportation to Cumberland is 5 cents per bushel; costing, 
delivered at the bank of the Potomac, at Cumberland, 6 cents per bushel. 

I have in this communication endeavored to give you all the facts you 
consider desirable for the purpose of forming a just estimate of your coal land 

, * . . ? f , ' r> \ 

*That pit was Eckhart’s; now the property of this Company. 


7 


purchases in Alleghany county, and to enable you to make a correct calcula¬ 
tion of the profitable investment of capital to carry on the excavation and 
transportation of coal to market on an extensive scale. 

I am, &c. JNO. PICKELL. 

To M. Sr. Clair Clarke, Washington. 

At the date of the foregoing report I had only purchased two of the estates, 
to wit: “The Vale” and the “Hoffman mines.” Having since then bought 
tire “ Eckhart mines,”' I submit also the following correspondence with Cap¬ 
tain Picked; 

E. 

Washington, June 8, 1835. 

Dear Sir: Since your report to me, on my purchase of the “Vale” and 
“Hoffman mines,” I have added to them the celebrated Eckhart mine. Will 
you be so good as to answer the following questions: 

3. How far is the mouth of the mine from Clary’s? 

2. What is the descent along the United States turnpike road to Clary’s; 
and how far is the mouth of the pit from the road ? 

3. What are the facilities of railroad from this mine to the point of junc¬ 
tion with the former projected railroad ? 

4. What is the quality, probable extent, and position, of the iron ore on this 
tract ? 

5. What do you think of the additional value to the Vale and Hoffman 
mines, by adding these six hundred and odd acres? 

6. What is the extent of the ten feet vein on the Eckhart tract? 

Yours, <fcc. 

MATTHEW ST. CLAIR CLARKE. 

To Captain Jno. Pickell, U. S. Engineer, Frostbnrg. 

F. 

Frostbukg, June 12, 1835. 

Dear Sir: Having completed the examination of the tract of land you 
recently purchased from Mr. John Eckhart, and collected all the other neces¬ 
sary data, with the view of answering the inquiries in your letter oi the 8th 
instant, I am now enabled to communicate the result. 

The Eckhart tract is situated at the head of the northwest branch of 
Braddock’s run, and is divided into two nearly equal parts by the national 
road, and contains about 650 acres; its south line adjoins your previous pur¬ 
chases at the head of the South branch; and the two contiguous tracts (Hoff¬ 
man’s and Eckhart’s) included the whole of that portion of the hill in which 
Mr. Hoffman’s pit, on the south side, and Mr. Eckhart’s pit, on the north side, 
are at present opened. 

Fhe deep or 10 feet vein underlays at least 500 acres of the farm. The 3^- 
feet vein is also found in a position corresponding to that on the adjoining 
tracts. The number of tons of bituminous coal in the deep vein is 7,774,000, 
equal to 217,672,000 bushels; the feet vein contains 2,591,300 tons, or 
72,556,400 bushels. 

The pit opened by Mr. Eckhart in 1823, and now in operation, is about 
40 yards south of the national road, and 291 y 6 ^ feet above Clary’s tavern. 
Its distance to the junction of the projected railroad, down the South branch, 
with the national road east of Clary’s, is 1 mile 284 yards. 

A survey was made in 1829, under the direction of the Chesapeake and 


8 


Ohio Canal Company, from Cumberland to the coal district, to ascertain the 
practicability and expense of the construction of a railroad to accommodate 
the trade of the valuable fossil of this region. One branch was projected 
from the pits at the head of the north branch of Braddock’s run, down the 
valley, to its junction with Will’s creek, two miles above Cumberland. The 
average cost of construction, for a single track, was estimated at an average 
per mile of $3,240 04. I am, however, of opinion that the cost of the first 
mile will not be less than $5,000, as that distance includes the most difficult 
and expensive points in the excavation and grading in the whole line. In 
order to pass from the north side of the run, to intersect the national road at 
Clary’s, a viaduct of 40 feet span would be required, which, in addition to the 
embankments to reach the grade of the road, may be estimated at $5,000; 
making the total cost of a railway from the coal pits to Clary’s, including via¬ 
duct, &lc ., about $12,000. 

A vein of iron ore, of uniform masses, has been found about 250 yards be¬ 
low the house, overlaying a deep stratum of limestone. The ore is of the 
argillaceous oxyde formation, and, as far as I have been able to examine its 
quality, will yield nearly 33£ per cent. The extent of the vein cannot be 
ascertained without a greater stripping; its appearance, where it has been 
exposed, indicates a continuous vein of from 10 to 12 inches, which may 
probably increase in depth and richness the more it is uncovered towards the 
north side of the hill. 

As a part of your valuable coal tracts on the south branch of the run, the 
Eckhart farm is a highly important accession, not only on account of the ad¬ 
ditional quantity of coal secured by this subsequent purchase, but equally as 
affording you facilities for opening a greater number of pits; and carrying on, 
upon a more extensive scale, the excavation and transportation of coal, than 
you would have been enabled to do by confining your operations to the valley 
of the south branch of Braddock’s run, and at the head of which your Yale 
and Hoffman tracts are situated. 

i am, <&c. 

JNO. PICKELL. 

To M. St. Clair Clarke, Esq., Washington City. 

N. B. The dip or depression of the vein of the pit on the Eckhart tract 
is to the northwest, and at about one degree; all the pits, therefore, opened 
on the same side of the hill, with entrances perpendicular to the slope, will 
drain themselves, and may always remain dry. 

J. P. 

The construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal as far as Cumberland 
has now been settled by the recent munificent loan of $2,000,000* by the 
State of Maryland; and, by the convention between the Commissioners on 
behalf of the State and the Board of Directors of the Canal Companv, the 
toll on coal has been reduced to an equality with the tolls of Pennsylvania, to 
wit: one half cent per ton per mile, making about ninety-three cents per ton 
from Cumberland to Washington. 

Very respectfully, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 

MATTHEW ST. CLAIR CLARKE. 

*$3,000,000 have again been granted, and 5,000 men are now engaged on the last 
50 miles. 


9 


G. 

New York, October 2, 1835. 

Sir : I am under many obligations to you for consenting to demit other 
duties devolved on you by orders of the War Department, and undertaking 
for the “Maryland Mining Company” the important duties about to be re¬ 
quired of you. 

The topographical, geological, and mineralogical reconnoissances desired 
by the Company are deemed by them of great public concern as well as of 
private interest; and thence, your instructions can only be of general char¬ 
acter. Indeed, I cannot instruct, for want of knowledge, and can only ex¬ 
press to you my wishes. 

I desire you, then, to ascertain, by three surveys, the most practicable 
route for a railroad of two tracks from the mines to Cumberland, or near it; 
running two routes up Braddock’s run, one on each side ; and the third pas¬ 
sing over to the river, below Cresapstown, coming down as near the town as 
you please. 

Ascertain the most practicable position for the junction as well as con¬ 
struction of the roads from tlic three mines. 

If, in locating, you can gain distance, so as to diminish the acclivity, I de¬ 
sire it ; for l would rather run twelve miles than nine * to gain in this point. 
Two ideas have presented themselves in the location; please examine 
them : 

First. Can the whole necessary depression be made by one inclined 
plane at the Vale, &c., so as to render the rest of the road facile ? 

Second. If the first be impracticable, would it be better to keep up the 
hill side above Dilly’s saw-mill, and from thence have a second plane—my 
object being to have the engines to do their whole work on a continuous part 
of the road 1 

The depot at the mines, at the junction, and, eventually , at Will’s creek, f 
will form subjects for detail. 

Please extend your researches, generally, for about two miles round the 
Company’s mines, so as to present their position relative to others ; examine 
the elevation or depression or dip of the coal beds particularly ; in doing 
which, make as many openings as you think proper ; designate the direction 
in which all the mines are now worked, their probable extent, distance from 
ours, depression of the intervening ravines, and general course of the coal 
vein. 

Ascertain the extent of the iron ore on the Eckhart estate, and elsewhere 
on the Company’s lands, and also its quality and character. 

Are there any distinct characteristics in the several mines'? 

Thus, sir, you perceive my object is to obtain the most practicable loca¬ 
tion for our roads, and also to show, what I honestly think, that the mines of 
the Company form the best location, for all practical purposes, in the county 
of Alleghany. 

Please to be patient, and investigate every point. 

Very respectfully, &:c. 

MW. ST. CLAIR CLARKE, 
President Maryland Mining Company. 

To Major Geo. W. Hughes, 

Of United States Engineers. 

* The 9 mile stone stands on the Company’s lands. 

f The Company owns a depot there of 5 acres; and of 20 acres just above town, on 
the river, which covers 3,200 feet of wharfage on the upper basin. 


10 


H. 

Washington City, D. C., November 11, 1835, 

Gentlemen : Having completed the surveys in Alleghany county, Mary* 
land, which l was requested to make by your President, agreeably to his in¬ 
structions of the 2d ultimo, I have the honor to state, in anticipation of a 
minute and detailed report, that the results of my investigation cannot fail to 
prove highly interesting and satisfactory to all concerned. 

As it will require some lime to finish the office work, (in preparing maps, 
profiles, plans, estimates, &,c., and in arranging the crude materials and re¬ 
sults which have been obtained,) I can speak at this period only in general 
terms ; but in order that you may be apprized of the plan and contents of 
the report which will be submitted hereafter, I beg leave to explain that I 
propose to make : 1st. The maps and profiles of the railroad survey on a 
scale of one mile to twelve inches, which will be sufficiently large to ena¬ 
ble us to communicate correct and minute information of the topography, 
&c., of the district through which it passes. 2d. A general map, on a small 
scale, of the country lying between Cumberland and Westernport, or the 
mouth of the Savage, showing the great coal formation. 3d. A map, on a 
very large scale, exhibiting the extent and position of your Company’s prop¬ 
erty in relation to the Boston and Skinner purchases ; the several openings 
which have been made in that region, their relation to each other, and dips 
or inclinations ; also, a trace of the thick vein as it underlays your purchase, 
and a plan which I shall propose for working it, by which you will be ena¬ 
bled to excavate every acre without resorting to artificial drainage. It will 
also show the position of the iron bed and three feet vein of coal, and the 
probable extent of the ore, so far as our examinations will warrant a conclu¬ 
sion. I did not deem it advisable to continue my investigations to determine 
precisely the quantity of ore, till it had been analyzed, and its quality as¬ 
certained; and then the Company could best judge of the propriety of ma¬ 
king them more extensive; for my own part, I am perfectly satisfied of its 
abundance. 

I have collected, I believe, all the materials necessary for a minute and 
clear illustration of the plan above indicated; and a fair exposition (such a 
one as I intend making) cannot fail to place your properly far ahead of all 
competition, as it regards the extent of your coal, its quality, and accessibil¬ 
ity. This latter fact, which will be demonstrated, is of the first importance, 
and will, of itself, in a great degree, hereafter regulate the value of coal 
fields. 

The whole number of acres of soil in your purchase, including the vacan ¬ 
cies covered by your warrants of re-survey, is about 1,754,* all of which are 
underlaid by one three feet vein; and the ten feet vein extends under the 
whole of it, with the exception of a few acres. The new three feet vein, 
which 1 have recently discovered, is probably less extensive than the others, 
but 1 have no doubt that from 25 to 30,000,000 of tons may be excavated 
from under your soil. I intend, in a subsequent report, to enter more mi¬ 
nutely into an estimate of the quantity of coal which may be procured from 
your mines. 

The railroad from the Hoffman mine will, in no case, exceed a grade of 
one hundred and twenty feet to the mile,t and for more than half of the dis¬ 
tance will be less than eighty feet to the mile. The whole fall is 1,200 feet. 

* Now extended to about 2,200 acres. 

t This will be brought within 100 feet by a recent change in locations. 


11 


in round numbers, and the distance twelve miles; on the whole line there 
will be no heavy works, as the road is located the whole distance on cross¬ 
slopes, and does not intersect any deep ravines, which would require expen¬ 
sive viaducts. The materials of wood and stone, of a superior quality, can 
be obtained directly on the line in great abundance. I have as yet made no 
estimate of cost, but have no hesitation in saying that a substantial and cheap 
road may be constructed on our locations with easy curves, admitting the ad¬ 
vantageous application of locomotive engines throughout its whole extent; 
thus obviating the necessity of resorting to inclined planes, with complicated 
and expensive stationary power, which was at one time contemplated. I 
shall submit no estimate for horsepaths, as my plan entirely excludes the con¬ 
sideration of animal power. 

By referring to the tables of grades in Judge Roberts’s report to the Presi¬ 
dent and Directors of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, it will he 
seen that his locations down Braddock’s and Jennings’s runs presuppose the 
use of horses, and preclude the application of steam as a motive power, as 
some of his inclinations are more than 2.32 degrees, or about 230 feet to the 
mile.* 

My survey continues about six miles on the eastern slope of Dan’s moun¬ 
tain, and then, leaving the valley of Braddock’s run, strikes through a pass 
between the mountains to the south-southeast slope of Will’s mountain, on 
the valley of the Potomac river, which it follows to the proposed basin of the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal at Cumberland, on what is called the low level; 
which termination has been recently sanctioned officially by the Directors of 
that work. The maps will show very clearly that my line is the cheapest 
and only eligible route from tlie coal mines in the vicinity of Frostburg to 
the canal, and that it is not easily attainable by any other company or pro¬ 
prietors than your own. 

I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 

GEO. W. HUGHES, U. S. Civil Engineer. 

To the President and Directors of the Md. Mining Company. 

I. 


New York, November 19, 1835. 

At a special meeting of the Stockholders of the “ Maryland Mining Com 
pany,” held this day, the following members were present: 


Samuel Swartvvout, 
Henry Ogden, 

Dunbar S. Dyson, 
Edwin Lord, 

Joseph W. Alsop, jun. 
Wm. A. Bradley, 
Louis McLane, 


Robert Dyson, 

Isaac Gibson, 

Henry Casey, 

S. J. Tobias, 

Virgil Maxcy, per W. A. B. 
Matthew St. Clair Clarke. 


Whereupon, Isaac Gibson was called to the Chair, and Dunbar S. Dyson 
appointed Secretary. 

The President of the Company, Mr. Clarke, having read the preliminary 
report of Major G. W. Hughes, acting under instructions from the President, 
it was 

Resolved , That whereas the President has been heretofore instructed and 


* Neither of these routes will be travelled by our Compam. 


empowered to sell one fourth part of the interests of said Company, at the 
rate of $1,000,000, it is deemed expedient at present to suspend the said 
power until the further order of the stockholders. 

Resolved , That the President be, and he is hereby, instructed to make 
application to the Legislature of the State of Maryland, to rate the existing 
capital of the Company at $1,000,000, and to increase the value of the re¬ 
spective shares to the sum of $500, provided said Legislature shall be satis¬ 
fied that the property of said Company is worth that sum. 

Resolved , That the President be, and he is hereby, instructed to apply to 
said Legislature for authority further to increase said capital to $1,500,000, 
by receiving new subscriptions for one thousand shares of $500 each, to he 
used as a capital for banking purposes; provided that the capital of the bank 
and of the Mining Company be deemed separate and distinct from each other, 
unless the stockholders shall severally desire otherwise; and provided, also, 
that the proprietors of the Mining Company shall be under no obligation to 
subscribe to any portion of the capital of the bank. 

Resolved. , That the President be, and he is further, instructed to apply for 
such further amendments to our charter as will enable the Company to carry 
more fully into effect the objects for which the same was granted. 

ISAAC GIBSON, Chairman. 

Dunbar S. Dvson, Secretary. 

[By reference to the amended charter, hereto annexed, it will be seen that the Le¬ 
gislature of Maryland acceded to the second resolution, and granted a charter lor a 
bank, &c. &.c., by the unanimous vote of both Houses.'] 


CHARTER OF THE MARYLAND MINING COMPANY. 


An Act to incorporate the Maryland Mining Company. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland , That 
Nicholas G. Ridgley, Hugh McEldery, Brice W. Howard, Samuel Keerle, 
George McCulloch, William McMahon, George Brown, Hugh W. Evans, 
and John Thomas, or any three of them, shall be, and they are hereby, con¬ 
stituted and appointed commissioners, with power to open subscription books, 
at some suitable place in the cities of Baltimore and Frederick, first giving 
ten days’ notice thereof in two newspapers published in the said cities, and 
whose duty it shall be to insert in the said books the names of all persons who 
have associated under the name and style of the Maryland Mining Company, 
or shall offer to subscribe and join in the said association, together with the 
number of shares by such persons respectively taken or subscribed; which 
subscriptions to the capital stock of the said company shall be received, sub¬ 
ject to such rules, limitations, and terms, as shall he prescribed by the said 
commissioners; and as soon as the said capital stock, or so much thereof as 
the commissioners shall deem necessary to commence the business of the said 
corporation, shall be taken and subscribed, the commissioners shall give ten 
days’ public notice, in the manner aforesaid, for a meeting of the stockholders, 
to choose a president and eight directors to manage the affairs of the company; 
and the said commissioners shall hold the said election, according to such ap¬ 
pointment, and certify the names of the persons duly elected, and deliver 




13 


over the aforesaid subscription book to the president and directors who shall 
be so chosen; and if any subscriber to the capital stock of the said company 
shall thereafter fail or neglect to pay any instalment, or part of his or her 
subscription, for the space of thirty days subsequent to the time at which the 
same shall be demanded by the president and directors of the said company, 
the stock on which it is demanded shall be and become thereby forfeited to 
the said company, and may be sold by the president and directors thereof, 
for the benefit of the said corporation; but the president and directors may 
remit such forfeiture, on such terms as they may deem proper. 

Sec. 2. And be it enacted , That the persons whose names shall be so in¬ 
serted in the aforesaid subscription books, their successors and assigns, shall 
be, and they are hereby, created and constituted a body corporate, by the 
name and style of the Maryland Mining Company, and as such shall by that 
name have succession, and may sue and be sued, in any court of law or 
equity in this State, and shall be capable to have and use a common seal, 
which they may alter or renew at their pleasure, and to have, exercise, and 
enjoy, as a corporate body, the powers, rights, and privileges proper and ne¬ 
cessary for the purpose of working coal, iron, and other mines, in the State 
of Maryland, and vending the products thereof in their crude or manufactured 
state; with power, for the aforesaid purposes, to purchase, hold, and use estate, 
real, personal, and mixed; and to construct such buildings and improvements 
on their land as may be deemed necessary; and the said estate, or any part 
thereof, to sell and convey, or otherwise dispose of, and generally to do and 
perform all such other acts in relation to the objects and business of their in¬ 
corporation, or that may be necessary to the exercise of the rights, privileges, 
and powers granted to the said company by this act, which any other corpo¬ 
rate body may do, the same not being repugnant to any law of this State, or 
of the United States, 

Sec. 3. And be it enacted, That the capital stock of the said company 
shall be two hundred thousand dollars, and be divided into shares of one hun¬ 
dred dollars each; and every person who is or shall become a proprietor of 
one or more shares of the said stock, shall, in virtue thereof, be a member of 
the said corporation, and shall be entitled, at all meetings of the stockholders, 
to one vote, in person or by proxy, for each share of the capital stock which 
shall be held by such person; and the said capital stock may, in whole or part, 
consist and be vested in land, buildings, machinery, tools, vessels, carriages, 
and materials, necessary or useful for promoting or carrying on the objects 
and business of the said corporation; and the shares of the said capital stock 
shall be assignable, transferable, and be considered as personal property. 

Sec. 4. And be it enacted , That the affairs of the said company shall be 
managed by a president and eight directors, who shall be chosen as aforesaid, 
to serve until others shall be elected, as may be provided by the stockholders, 
in the by-laws of the said corporation; and the said president and directors, 
and their successors, or a majority of them, shall have full power and authority 
to appoint, employ, compensate, and at their pleasure to remove, such officers, 
agents, or servants, as they may deem necessary, in the business of the said 
company; also to contract for and purchase such land, chattels, materials, 
vessels, carriages, rights, and privileges, and cause all such machinery, build¬ 
ings, and improvements, or conveniences, to be made, as they shall deem ne¬ 
cessary for effecting the objects of the company; and the same, or any part 
thereof, to sell and convey, or otherwise dispose of, in their discretion; and 
also to prescribe the mode of issuing and transferring stock in the said com¬ 
pany, and the evidence thereof; and generally to do all such acts, and pass all 


14 


such ordinances and regulations, for the benefit and well ordering ol the busi¬ 
ness of the said company, as they shall think proper, the same not being con¬ 
trary to the by-laws passed by the stockholders, nor to any law ol this State, 
or of the United Slates; and in case of any vacancy happening in the presi¬ 
dency or directory of this company, the remaining directors shall fill the same, 
by choosing from the stockholders a president or director, as the case may be; 
and for the transacting any business of the said company, a quorum shall con¬ 
sist of a president and a majority of the directors thereof. 

Sec. 5. And be it enacted, That general meetings of the stockholders shall 
be called at any time by the president and directors, and at such times as may 
be appointed in the by-laws; and that special meetings may be called at any 
time by the president, or a director, or by any number of stockholders who 
shall be proprietors of not less than one fourth part of the whole capital stock 
of the said company, first giving ten days’ public notice, in the manner herein 
before prescribed, of the objects of every such meeting; and in any meeting 
of the stockholders, a quorum for the transacting of any business, other than 
the election of the president and directors, shall consist of the owners and the 
representatives of the owners of at least the major part of the said capital 
stock; and every such meeting shall have full power and authority to pass, 
amend, alter, and repeal by-laws and resolutions, which shall, whilst in force, 
be binding on the president and directors thereof, their officers, agents, and 
servants, the same not being contrary to any law of this State, or of the 
United States. 

Sec. 6. And be it enacted , That nothing in this act contained shall be con¬ 
strued to restrict the right of the Legislature, which is hereby expressly re¬ 
served in its fullest extent, to impose and levy, from time to time, and at all 
times hereafter, such tax as the General Assembly may deem proper, by li¬ 
cense or otherwise, on the estate, funds, and property, in which the capital 
stock of the said company, hereby incorporated, shall be invested, in common 
with similar properly, funds, or estate, of any other company, corporation, or 
individuals, of this State. 

Sec. 7. And be it enacted , That this act shall continue in force until the 
year eighteen hundred and sixty, and until the end of the next session of the 
General Assembly which may happen thereafter. 


A supplement to an act entitled “An act to incorporate the Maryland Mining Company.” 

Whereas the development of the mineral resources of this State is of 
great importance to the community, calculated to encourage the industry and 
enterprise of its people, and to increase the revenue of the public works; 
Therefore, 

> v 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland , That 
the capital of the Maryland Mining Company shall and may be increased to 
one million of dollars, to be divided into shares of five hundred dollars each; 
and that certificates therefor shall be issued to the stockholders, in place of 
those heretofore provided for; and that one fourth part of the capital stock of 
said company, or two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, shall be applied by 
the president and directors to the working of the mines of the said company, 
and the construction of the railroad hereinafter authorized to be made. 

Sec. 2. And be it enacted , That the land which it shall be lawful for the 
“ Maryland Mining Company” to purchase or hold shall not exceed five 



15 


thousand acres, including the territory at present possessed by the said com¬ 
pany; and it shall not be lawful for the said company to hold any land with¬ 
out the limits of Alleghany county. 

Sec. 3. And be it enacted, That, for the purpose of enabling the said com¬ 
pany to transport the produce of their mines and the country through which 
their railroad may pass, in the cheapest and most expeditious manner, the 
said company, and the president and directors thereof, shall be, and hereby 
are, respectively invested with all and singular the rights, powers, privileges, 
authorities, immunities, and advantages, for the surveying, locating, establish¬ 
ing, and constructing, a railroad and its necessary appurtenances; beginning 
the same at the mines of the said company, and running to a convenient 
point or points on the basin or canal of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal 
Company, at or near the town of Cumberland, in this State, and for the using, 
preserving, and controlling in perpetuity the said railroad, its necessary ve¬ 
hicles and appurtenances, and every part thereof; or borrowing money, on 
the credit of the company, for its lawful purposes; which by the act incorpo¬ 
rating the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and its several supple¬ 
ments, were for the lawful purposes of said company, and the benefit of its 
corporators, given, granted, authorized, and secured, to the said company, and 
its president and directors, respectively, as fully and perfectly as if the same 
were herein severally repeated: Provided , That it shall not be lawful for the 
said Maryland Mining Company to occupy or use any portion of the lands 
in the gorge of the mountains, from the mouth of Braddock’s run towards 
Cumberland, that may be necessary for the accommodation of the canal 
and works of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, or for the main 
route of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, or that may be within the limits 
of either of the public roads there now existing, except to cross these roads, 
without injury to the same: And provided, also, That full right and privilege is 
hereby reserved to the citizens of this State, or any company now or hereaf¬ 
ter to be incorporated under the authority of this State, to connect with the 
railroad hereby provided for any other railroad, if in the opinion and judg¬ 
ment of the commissioners of Alleghany county for the time being, passed 
upon full hearing of all parties interested, no injury would be done by such 
connexion to the railroad of said company; and that the said company 
shall transport on their said railroad, upon any railways connected, or 
which may be connected therewith, at the rate of one cent a ton per mile, on 
all goods, merchandise, or property of any description whatsoever, transport¬ 
ed on said railroad, or any lateral ways which they may construct; and, also, 
not exceeding two cents per mile for each passenger transported on said 
railroad: Provided, ahvays , That when any car shall be placed on said rail¬ 
road, it be adapted in size and all necessary particulars to said railroad: 
And provided, further. That the Legislature of this State may at any time 
hereafter regulate, modify, or change, the control, use, and estate, of so much 
of the railroad as shall be constructed under the authority hereby given, and 
be situate from Braddock’s run, through the gorge of the mountains, to the 
basin or the canal of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, at or near 
Cumberland, in such manner as it may deem equitable towards the said 
company, and necessary to the accommodation of the public travel, or use 
of so much of the said railroad. 

Sec. 4. And be it enacted, That the president and directors of the said 
Maryland Mining Company, and William McMahon, John J. Hoffman, and 
William Houx, shall be, and they are hereby, authorized to open books for 
subscription to the capital stock of a bank, to be called “ The Mineral Bank 


16 


of Maryland,” to be located at Cumberland, in the county of Alleghany; the 
capital stock whereof shall be five hundred thousand dollars, divided into 
five thousand shares, of one hundred dollars each; which said books shall be 
opened in the town of Cumberland, and at such other places in this State or 
elsewhere, and under the direction of such persons as they may appoint, and 
to be kept open for not less than two days, at each several place, having giv¬ 
en notice for four weeks, in one or more newspapers published in the re¬ 
spective places where said books are to be opened. 

Sec. 18. And be it enacted, That the bank hereby incorporated shall, 
after its organization as hereinbefore provided, be and remain, during the 
continuance of the charter, a distinct and independent corporation, and in no 
way connected as such with the Maryland Mining Company, or any other 
incorporated company; and that the president and officers of said bank shall 
reside in Alleghany county. 

Note. —The bank is now in full and successful operation. 


REPORT. 


City of Washington, February, 1836. 

To Matthew St. Clair Clarke, Esq., 

President of the Maryland Mining Company. 

Sir: After a careful and minute survey of the bituminous coal region in 
the vicinity of Frostburg, Alleghany county, Maryland, lying on Braddock’s 
and Jennings’s runs, and of the intermediate country between the head waters 
of those streams and the basin of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, on the 
Potomac at Cumberland, for the location of a railroad to accommodate your 
coal trade; and a personal reconnoissance of the great coal formation as far 
as the mouth of Savage river, 1 have the honor, in addition to my prelimi¬ 
nary communication of the lltli November last, to submit the following 
report, iu compliance with your request and instructions, dated 2d October, 
1835. 

Until the State of Maryland, impelled by a just pride, liberal policy, and 
generous emulation of her powerful and enterprising neighbors, lent her effi¬ 
cient aid to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and thus secured its completion 
to Cumberland, the mineral wealth of the neighboring region was compara¬ 
tively unknown, and scarcely attracted the attention even of men of science; 
but now, since its extent, quality, and accessibility, have been ascertained, and 
its superiority demonstrated, its market can be limited only by the capacity 
of the canal to accommodate the trade; and the projectors and eloquent ad¬ 
vocates of that bold project for uniting the western waters with the Atlantic, 
through the mountains of the Alleghany, may proudly anticipate a rich and 
well-earned harvest of fame to themselves, and of substantial benefit to their 
country. 

It seems as if nature, in a freak of prodigality, had bestowed, with a lavish 
hand, her choicest blessings on the county of Alleghany. She has given her 
a magnificent river for a boundary; a climate mild, equable, and healthy; a 
soil rich in fruits and agricultural productions; luxuriant ranges for vast herds 
of cattle; water wholesome and abundant, and mineral treasures almost im- 




17 


measurable in extent, and incalculable in value. The county town is Cum¬ 
berland, which has grown up on the site of old Fort Cumberland, at the con¬ 
fluence of Will’s creek and the Potomac river. At this point the canal will 
terminate for the present, and Cumberland will become the depot for the 
western trade; through this place, also, must necessarily pass all the mineral 
productions which may be drawn from the adjacent mountains. Its local 
advantages, therefore, unless its prosperity should be checked by some great 
evil, will make her, at no distant day, an important inland town. The pres¬ 
ent is, however, the crisis of its fate; and on the public spirit and enterprise 
of its citizens her destiny mainly depends. 

Cumberland, in reference to its geology, is situated near where the transi¬ 
tion series ends, and tho secondary formation begins. It is built on transi¬ 
tion limestone, which appears to underlay the whole region, and to extend 
some distance under the secondary rocks, which rise into high mountains, 
presenting the singular feature of overtopping the primary range. Next above 
the limestone is a chocolate colored slate, dipping to the south, elevated sev¬ 
eral hundred feet above the level of the river. This is to be seen near the 
town, at the gorge of the mountain, where Will’s creek breaks through in its 
course to the Potomac. On this slate rests, in horizontal beds, a hard white 
sandstone of the secondary series. This is the only locality, in this part of 
the country, where I have found this rock in place; but it is to be seen cov¬ 
ering whole sides of mountains with its debris; and, in the valleys of Brad- 
dock’s run and George’s creek, it occurs in immense boulders, and even 
piles of boulders thrown together by some violent convulsion, which has torn 
them from their natural beds. They all present, in this situation, the appear¬ 
ance of having been rolled by water; and their sharp angles have evidently 
been worn off by the force of attrition. This stone dresses easily to a pat¬ 
tern, does not scale off or disintegrate by exposure to the atmosphere, and 
forms an excellent building material. A beautiful bridge of two arches, on 
the new location of the national road, is constructed from these boulders. 
The locality from which they were taken is indicated on the map. This 
stone bears exposure to a white heat, and does not crack or fly when thrown 
into w'ater. A strong heat slightly vitrifies it on the surface. It was former¬ 
ly used for furnaces in the Cumberland glass-house, and will, no doubt, an¬ 
swer a good purpose for furnaces in the reduction of iron ores. 

In following the old national road over Will’s mountain, it will be seen 
that the rocks are principally silicious; occasionally, or rather generally, mix¬ 
ed with oxyde of iron. On the summit of the mountain is evidently the an¬ 
ticlinal line; for, from the base to the summit, the inclination is to the south 
or southeast; and this appears to be the dip of the strata below Cumberland, 
so far as I have observed. After leaving the summit, where the rocks are 
nearly or quite horizontal, the strata dip to the southwest, with few excep¬ 
tions, and, in those cases, the exceptions have been evidently caused by some 
disturbing force. 

As we descend from Will’s towards Dan’s mountain and Little Alleghany, 
we insensibly pass from the transition to the secondary formation. At Per¬ 
cy’s tavern, Braddock’s run has worn out a deep narrow ravine, and exposed 
the mineral strata to view. Their inclination here is to the southwest, at a 
considerable angle; and they are to be seen frequently along the valley of 
the creek until we reach its source, always observing the same angle of de¬ 
pression. 

Indications of coal, or blossoms , as the miners call them, are observed 
within seven miles of Cumberland, and this may be considered as its extreme 
2 


18 


southeastern boundary; but no strata, over 12 or 18 inches, have been discov¬ 
ered, after the strictest search, nearer than the Hoffman or Eckhart mine, 
belonging to the Maryland Mining Company, with the exception of small 
patches of the ten feet bed, which shows itself wherever the ground is high 
enough to contain it; but, when found under these circumstances, it is almost 
inaccessible, and of no great value when reached, on account of its inferior 
quality, arising from the want of a sufficient covering of earth, which appears 
to have been essential for the production of good coal; and it is now found 
generally that that coal which has been subjected to the greatest pressure is 
the best. There may be exceptions to this rule; but, if so, they have esca¬ 
ped my observation. The nearer the coal is discovered to Cumberland, the 
higher is the position of its bed; for the dip of the formation is more than 
one degree in declination to the southwest, and the ground falls jn the oppo¬ 
site direction towards Cumberland; and indeed the whole country, from Frost- 
burg southeast, drains into the Potomac at Cumberland. It is therefore only 
the highest peaks of the mountains from Frostburg to the river that contain 
coal. The law of its formation appears to have been remarkably regular, 
and I have not found one well-established exception to that law. The moun¬ 
tains in the vicinity of Cumberland, to contain the thick stratum of coal, 
would have to be at least 2,000 feet above the level of the river. Within 
the enclosure of old Fort Cumberland, when garrisoned by a British force, a 
well was sunk nearly 200 feet deep, but no coal was found. It would be 
highly interesting to know what strata it passed through, but 1 could obtain 
no very definite information on that head; although it is most likely that 
limestone was the principal rock perforated. As has been already remark¬ 
ed, the mineral strata along Braddock’s run (and it is equally true of Jen¬ 
nings’s run) have been laid bare as far up as the sources of that brook; yet 
no coal of any value has been found, although in a region of miners who are 
always searching for discoveries; and we are therefore led to the conclusion, 
by circumstances which have the force of demonstration, that no stratum of 
coal sufficiently thick to he worked with advantage can he found nearer to 
the canal than those already mentioned as belonging to your company. 

The general name of Cumberland coal has been applied to the productions 
of the Maryland coal fields; but there is nothing appropriate in this designa¬ 
tion, as Cumberland is nine miles from the nearest mine. I prefer to call it 
Alleghany coal; and, for convenience and perspicuity, shall consider the form¬ 
ation as divided into two districts—the Frostburg and the Westernport 
fields: to this latter division belong the regions of George’s creek and Savage 
river. Some observations on the relative local positions of these two districts, 
in reference to the basin of the canal at Cumberland, will be found in a sub¬ 
sequent part of this report. 

The mines at Frostburg lie on the eastern boundary, and constitute a part 
of the great bituminous coal formation of the United States, which, com¬ 
mencing near the dividing line between New York and Pennsylvania, stretches 
through Maryland and Virginia into North Carolina and Tennessee, and ex¬ 
tends west, probably, to the Rocky Mountains. In all this vast extent of 
country, the mineral associations appear to be strikingly similar; they seem 
fo indicate an identity of the several coal measures, and consequently a com¬ 
mon origin, whatever that origin may be. 

According to my instructions, only a small portion of this great coal form¬ 
ation demands my attention, which will therefore be confined (except so far 
as it may be necessary for illustration) to that part of the Alleghany field 
which extends southwest to the mouth of Savage, and particularly that sec- 


19 


tion of it lying in the immediate vicinity of Frostburg, on the lands pur¬ 
chased by the Maryland Mining Company. The coal measures to which my 
investigations have been directed, are bounded on the north by Savage moun¬ 
tain, on the west by Savage mountain and river, on the south by the Po¬ 
tomac, and east by Dan’s mountain and Little Alleghany, extending over a 
tract of country about twenty-two miles long by five miles broad, embracing 
about one hundred and twenty square miles, all of which are underlaid by seve¬ 
ral beds of coal of different thicknesses This field has two declinations: its 
longitudinal, in the direction of Westernport, at the rate of one hundred feet 
to the mile; the transverse, towards Savage mountain, at the rate of thirty 
feet to the mile. These inclinations have been deduced from numerous and 
extensive surveys, as will be seen by referring to the drawings, embracing 
every opening which has been worked within a circumference of two miles 
diameter; and many new excavations have been made, for the purpose of 
multiplying observations, and tracing beyond a doubt the existence of the bed. 
I have attached a high importance to the dip of the strata; as the plan for 
working the mines, without resorting to artificial drainage, depends on the 
direction and degree of their inclination. 

My instructions were of the most general and extensive character, requiring 
me to examine carefully the whole Frostburg district; and, with a view' to 
effect this, I caused lines of levels to be run from the new opening at Hoff¬ 
man’s* to every coal pit in the vicinity, and traced by a compass line, to de¬ 
termine their relative positions towards each other, and to obtain minute top¬ 
ographical knowledge of the intermediate country. 

The surveys gave the following results: 

The new opening above B. M. 1. - - - 40.051 feet. 


Above. Below, 

Hoffman’s old opening, in reference to the new 

opening, ------- 13.004 

Hoye’s, ------ 0.890 

Eckhart’s, ------- 66.796 

Hoye’s, (old mine,)- - 110.338 

Neff ’s, (new mine,) ------ 108.857 

Ward & Hoye’s No. 1, ----- 94.168 

“ “ No. 2, - - - - - 101.448 

Jack Porter’s, ------ 10.168 

Josiah Porter’s, - 18.000 

Blair’s, ------- 134.000 

Waddel’s, ------- 122.000 


The thick or ten feet bed of coal, into which the above-named openings are 
made, is in many places overlaid by a covering oi from 250 to 300 feet in 
depth. In addition to these lines, surveys were run to the various excava¬ 
tions which had been opened to the coal and the strata of iron ore, and also 
to Dowson’s mine, about three and a half miles from Eckhart’s, down George’s 
creek. It has generally been supposed that the coal beds at Westernport are 
continuations ol the beds at frostburg, but the results of these siuveys ren¬ 
der this assumption extremely improbable. 4 he Alleghany coal, unlike almost 
every other coal formation, is conformable , and not in a basin shape. The 
dip towards Westernport is at the rate of 100 feet in the mile, as far as has 
been ascertained; and if it continues at the same inclination, the thick bed of 
the Frostburg district lies about 1,100 feet below the mouth of Savage river. 
Professor Ducatel estimates the thick or fifteen feet stratum of Brant’s mine 

* This mine is on the Vale. 


•20 


at an elevation of 900 feet above the level of the river, or 1,224 feet above 
Cumberland. Judge Kenzie states that its dip is to the west, which is the same 
direction with the dip of the Frostburg field. This, of course, renders it 
manifest that the ten feet bed at Frostburg, and the fifteen feet bed at 
Brant’s, are not identical. The reason why the latter does not extend to 
Frostburg is, that the ground is not high enough in that vicinity to contain it; 
for if its inclination be the same as that of the Frostburg strata, it would 
require mountains 3,200 feet high to contain it. It may possibly be, that its 
inclination is less, and that it is identical with the bed at Mesheck Frost’s 
mine, situated one quarter of a mile northwest of Frostburg. This opening 
is 315 feet above Blair’s mine, on Jennings’s run, in a distance less than a 
mile. Dowson’s mine, probably a continuation of Frost’s, is 285 feet below 
it, a distance somewhat less than three miles; it, also, dips towards Western- 
port. The coal of Frost’s mine is esteemed less pure than that excavated 
from the mines on Braddock’s and Jennings’s runs; and this is confirmed by 
the analysis of Doctor Ducatel, which is a strong and additional reason for 
believing that it belongs to a different formation. But all these questions can 
be decided only by a more extensive examination of the whole ceal region 
than came within the province of my duties. 

The superiority of the Alleghany coal, as it regards richness, purity from 
all deleterious substances, and capacity for generating steam, over all other 
bituminous coal, foreign or domestic, has been established beyond question 
by the experience of practical ironmasters, and confirmed by the analyses of 
several of the most distinguished chemists in Washington, Baltimore, New 
York, and Boston. In support of this assertion, 1 submit the following facts: 

In answer to a committee of the House of Representatives, John McP. 
Brien, proprietor of the Antietam Iron Works, says, “ one bushel of Cum¬ 
berland (Alleghany) coal is worth two of Richmond, or any other we have 
used.” At Harper’s Ferry it is considered, in its natural state, equal to 
charcoal for the manufacture of the finest cutlery. 

Analyses of Frostburg coal. 



Carbon. 

Bitumen. 

Alumine and iron. 

Water. 

Dr. T. P. Jones, 

78 

19 

3 

-- 

Dr. Jackson, 

77.09 

16.05 

3 

3 silex. 

Mr. Hays, 

77.80 

15.60 

0 

4.60 

Professor Ducatel,'* 

70 

20.50 

6 

3.50 w. 

Mr. Chilton, t - 

86, hydrogen 2, 

alumine 8.88, 

silex 0.10, 


ox 

yde of iron 

0.2, water 2.0. 


Dr. Jackson, of Boston, states that the capacity of the Alleghany coal to 
generate steam is 32 per cent, greater than that of Liverpool coal. In com¬ 
parison with the above, I extract the following analyses of several kinds of 


British bituminous coal 

Is, from Thompson’s 

Chemistry, vol. 2, p. 

301. 



Carbon. 

Bitumen. 

Earth. 

Cannel coal, 

- 

75.2 

21.7 

3.1 

Slate coal, - 

- 

47.6 

32.5 

19.9 

Whitehaven, 

- 

57.0 

41.3 

1.7 

Wigan, 

- 

61.7 

36.7 

1.6 

Swansea, - 

- 

73.5 

23.1 

3.4 

Leitrim, 

- 

71.4 

23.4 

5.2 

Newcastle, ' 

- 

58.0 

40.0 

2.0 


# From a specimen from Mesheck Frost’s mine. 

t From the Eckhart mine. The hydrogen and part of the carbon form twelve parts 
of bitumen. 


21 


The Alleghany coal yields nearly as much combustible matter as anthracite, 
is almost as heavy, and contains only sufficient bitumen to ignite easily and 
burn freely, with a bright flame, destitute of any unpleasant or deleterious 
odor. By a proper mixture of the small with the large coal, the temperature 
of a room may be nicely adjusted, and the fire will be free from that intensity 
of heat generated by the combustion of anthracite, which is not only exceed¬ 
ingly unpleasant, but generally injurious. It is confidently believed that, when 
this coal finds its way to market, and can be supplied at a reasonable price, 
it will supersede all other articles for fuel for gas works and other manufac¬ 
turing purposes. The present high price of wood and Liverpool coal in New 
\ork is a strong argument in favor of opening a certain avenue by which this 
coal can be brought to market. The supply of pine wood for steamboats is 
rapidly diminishing on the Atlantic board, and it is probable that choice, if 
not necessity, will soon cause coal to be substituted in its stead. It is generally 
estimated that one ton of the best bituminous coal is equal to four cords of 
pine wood in generating steam. By the use of coal instead of wood, less 
room is required, the fire is more easily regulated, and it is suggested that 
explosions will be less frequent than at present. 

The time cannot be very remote when coal will be universally used, from 
the mountains to the Atlantic. The population of Great Britain and Ireland 
consume (besides other kinds of fuel) 17,000,000 tons per annum; and there 
can be no doubt that the coal trade from Alleghany will be limited only by the 
capacity of the canal. On this subject, it is stated in the memorial of the 
Internal Improvement Convention, assembled at Baltimore, that, “ on the 
Monkland Canal, quite 1,700,000 tons, or 47,000,000 of bushels,are annually 
conveyed to the town of Glasgow, in Scotland, the population of which is 
only 147,000 inhabitants, or but a little more than Baltimore and the cities 
of the District of Columbia.” “ The dimensions of this work (Chesapeake 
and Ohio Canal) are much larger than the Monkland Canal, and four times 
that amount might be conveyed on it, if there should be a demand for .so 
much,” which, at only fifty cents per ton, would yield about $2,500,000 tolls 
from Cumberland to Georgetown. Professor Ducatel, in his report on the 
geology of Maryland, observes: “ From this view of the extent and condition 
of the coal deposite in this district, it will be seen that, should the projected 
scheme of communication between the Chesapeake bay and the western 
waters, by means of canals and railroads, be effected no further even than 
Cumberland, (and there is but little doubt that the communication will soon 
extend thus far,) there will be furnished a convenient outlet for an amount of 
coal which can be estimated only by hundreds of millions of bushels.” 

But the Alleghany coal derives its greatest value from its association with 
almost inexhaustible deposites of the best kinds of iron ore. It is to this asso¬ 
ciation, aided by the energy and mechanical talent of her people, that Great 
Britain is mainly indebted for her present wealth and power; yet it is doubt¬ 
ful if she can point to a single district of the same extent, so rich in these 
mineral treasures, and the natural advantages of rendering them productive, 
as the county of Alleghany. And there is no reason to doubt that this countv 
alone possesses within itself the means of supplying, if necessary, the entire 
demand for these articles in the Union. Its iron ores are similar in kind to 
those from which nineteen twentieths ofiBritish iron is procured. 

It is worthy of remark that no faults or dykes have ever been encountered 
in the Alleghany coal measures; and there is every reason to believe, from 
the perfect regularity of the strata, that no disturbing force has been exerted 
in the coal region since its first formation. The following letter, from Pro¬ 
fessor Jones, is in relation to the above-mentioned ores: 


22 


Washington, February 17, 1836. 

Dear Sir: Although I am not yet ready to furnish the final results of the 
analyses of the iron ores from the Frostburg mines, near Cumberland, I have 
proceeded so far as to ascertain the working value of a number of them; that 
is to say, the per centage of metal which they will yield; and, in doing this, 
I shall be specially careful to avoid every thing like exaggeration—a course 
which, I am sure, is as much in accordance with your wishes as with my own 
inclination. 

The specimens marked Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, and 13, will 
each of them give about 40 per cent, of iron, which is considerably more 
than l had anticipated. These ores are very similar to each other; they are 
hard, and, in the old mode of working, would be of difficult reduction; but, 
with the modern improvement of the hot air blast, I am fully of opinion that 
they may all he very readily smelted. That marked No. 14 in the specimens 
received from you is, however, by far the best ore: it is tender, will smelt 
with great ease, and will yield at least 55 per cent. I know of no better 
ore. Some of the others are quite equal to those most worked and approved 
by the ironmasters of Wales, and are very similar to them. 

Since the introduction of the hot air blast into the iron works of Europe, 
it has been found that iron may be advantageously smelted by a considerable 
number of their varieties of bituminous coal, without resorting to the prepar¬ 
atory process of coking; yet, most assuredly, they have not, in any of the 
coal mines which have been discovered in Europe, a species at all equal to 
that in the vicinity of Cumberland, in this respect. Its freedom from sulphur, 
the large portion of carbonaceous matter, the very minute quantity of any 
foreign substance, and its small per centage of bitumen, conspire to assure 
us that it will stand at the head of all the known coals in metallurgical pro¬ 
cesses. I have tested it sufficiently to satisfy myself fully on this point. 

Hoping that the foregoing remarks may answer your present purpose, and 
assuring you that within a few days, health permitting, you shall be furnished 
with all particulars of the analysis now in progress, 

1 am, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

THOS. P. JONES. 

To G. W. Hughes, Esq. 

Civil Engineer, Washington , D. C. 


MARYLAND MINING COMPANY. 

The property of the Maryland Mining Company consists of three several 
purchases, made of Messrs. Sprigg, Hoffman, and Eckhart, which were form¬ 
erly contiguous farms, and now' constitute one consolidated tract, covering 
under your warrant of resurvey, one thousand seven hundred and fifty acres. 
It extends from the Clinton fork of Braddock’s run, across four other branches 
of that stream, to the valley of Jennings’s run; and on the western side 
reaches George’s creek, which flows into the Potomac at Westernport. The 
coal in the valley of George’s ^reek has this ridge interposed between it and 
Cumberland; and if an attempt be fnade to find an outlet by any other route 
than Westernport, it must be over this ridge, at an elevation of one thousand 
three hundred feet above the basin of the canal, or through it, following the 
inclination of the thick bed; but this can be effected only by passing through 
your tunnel, or excavating a way to Jennings’s run. Most of the adjacent 


23 


coal fields are overlaid with earth, of too great a depth to permit them to be 
worked by drifts; and the key to them, therefore, is lodged in the hands of 
the proprietors on Braddoek’s or Jennings’s runs. 

Four branches of Braddock’s run take their rise on your property, and 
aftord avenues into the heart of the coal beds. If it were not for these natural 
approaches, it would be exceedingly difficult and expensive to work the coal: 
but, as the beds dip westvvardly, and the brooks flow in opposite directions, 
they cut the coal formation, and expose the mineral strata; or only leave 
then a slight covering of earth, by removing which the coal-bed is laid bare; 
and drifts or galleries, carried in nearly a horizontal direction, perpendicular 
to its inclination, for the purpose of draining off the water, are considered the 
best, most convenient, and economical means of obtaining access to the coal. 
This plan entirely avoids the necessity of shafts for ventilating and working 
the mine, as well as the machinery, so enormously expensive in British 
mines, for elevating the coal and pumping out the water. There is probably 
no place in the world where the excavation of coal requires so few auxiliary 
means, and therefore so little expense, as in your fields. By referring to the 
map of the Frostburg region, a large ravine will be seen opening, up nearly 
to Eckhart’s house. Where the plane of the thick vein intersects the bed of 
this ravine, I recommend the commencement of two large tunnels or main 
galleries; and that you carry them perpendicular to the dip, and parallel and 
contiguous to each other, as shown by the blue lines which represent their 
traces through your lands, till they reach the southwestern boundary of “The 
Vale,” in the valley of George’s creek. It will not be necessary to carry 
your tunnels to that extent in the first instance; but only so far, from time to 
time, as circumstances may require, to enable you to work the lateral galleries 
to advantage. A large ditch on one side of the tunnel, and sunk below its 
floor, should be made, to carry off* the water which will drain into it from the 
lateral galleries. I recommend that these tunnels be excavated ten feet in 
width, and the same in height, having above and below them the roof and 
floor of the coal bed: between them, ten feet (cubic) piers of coal should be 
left standing, for supports, with equal or larger spaces to afford communica¬ 
tion from the one to the other. The entrances to these tunnels or main gal¬ 
leries should be arched with stone, and the earth in the immediate vicinity 
removed, to permit a free and commodious approach to the interior. The 
railroad should be continued into the tunnels and lateral galleries; and when 
a locomotive arrives at the mines with the empty cars, which have deposited 
their loads at Cumberland, the whole train will enter the tunnel, and the 
engine will carry the empty cars through the lateral galleries, to the very 
spot where the gangs of miners are at work, and remove the cars that have 
been already loaded. It is believed that this plan will be found, in practice, 
far preferable to any other, on account of its simplicity and convenience. 
The cars being taken to the place where they are wanted, no time is lost in 
their distribution, as would he the case if several openings were used; and 
the wavs within the tunnels are mere continuations of the railroad, on which 
the engine works, as it does on other portions of the way. Besides this, the 
several branches from the main stem to the several openings will not be re¬ 
quired: and this arrangement, moreover, will admit a greater concentration 
of force, and, consequently, a more rigorous supervision of the workmen. 
When the drifts or tunnels have been completed, all the bed lying to the left 
hand, consisting of about one thousand two hundred acres, may be excavated 
with the greatest ease, by taking advantage of the inclination, and always 
working upwards; but that on the right hand, dipping towards Jennings’s run, 


24 


\ 


is not so accessible, and cannot be rendered available without a slight modi¬ 
fication of this plan, involving, however, no great expense. Suppose it should 
be deemed advisable to excavate that portion of the field situated on the right 
hand, or northwest side of the main drift: if we attempt to work directly to 
the right, by means of lateral galleries, the water will follow the footsteps of 
the miner, and soon arrest his progress. There are several means by which 
this difficulty may be obviated or removed, but probably the most simple and 
economical will be to commence at the point A, where the tunnel intersects 
the southwestern boundary of your field, and sink a well equal in depth to 
the fall from A to B, which is about twenty-five feet, as deduced from the 
levels. Then carry your gallery towards B, with a ditch which will drain 
the water into the well, where a single horse will raise all the water into the 
ditch of the main entrance or tunnel, and thus keep the gallery perfectly 
dry. When we have reached B, we are behind the whole bed of coal which 
lies above and dips towards us; and, as we work upwards, the water drains 
into the well, whence it may be permitted to overflow through a cut into the 
ditch of the tunnel, by which it will be discharged into a reservoir formed 
outside of the tunnel, to be used as will be suggested hereafter. 

It will be observed that by this plan the ditch of the lateral gallery, and 
the well, are kept full of running water, which will have a most beneficial in¬ 
fluence on the atmosphere of the mines, by absorbing the choke damp , or 
carbonic acid; and the rapid motion of the trains, in passing and repassing, 
will create currents of air; and the rarefaction produced by the heat of the 
engines will assist in the ventilation. It may perhaps be necessary, when the 
main tunnel has been carried far in the bed, to sink a shaft from the surface 
for the purpose of ventilation; but, in doing this, advantage may be taken of 
depressions in the ground, to shorten its length, which need not exceed sixty 
or seventy-five feet. 

Before my examinations of your property were commenced, the existence 
of two beds of coal was known; and, in the course of my investigations, two 
others were developed. As far as has been ascertained, they now consist of 
four strata, viz: 


1st 3 feet bed (and lowest) 

underlaying 

- 

- 

1,750 acres 

10 

(l 

- 

- 

1,700 “ 

4J 

44 

- 


1,650 “ 

2d 3 “ (and highest) 

44 

- 

- 

1,200 “ 


The order and thickness of the accompanying strata of this measure have 
been described in the geological profiles. 

It is estimated that 


1 acre of the 3 feet bed = 138,680 cubic feet := 4,952 tons; 

1 acre of the 10 feet bed = 435,600 cubic feet = 15,557 tons; 

1 acre of the 4J feet bed = 196,020 cubic feet =: 7,000 tons; 

assuming the cubic foot to weigh 80 pounds, which is the average of bitu¬ 

minous coal, as given in Adcock’s table. The bushel may be taken equal 
in weight to the cubic foot; for, although larger in cubic inches, it is not 
compact or solid in the usual measurements. 


Then the 1st 3 feet stratum will give 


it 

10 

tt 

tt 

4J 

tt 

tt 

2d 3 

tt 


u 

(i 

tt 


7,666,000 tons. 
26,446,900 “ 
11,550,000 “ 
5,924,000 “ 


Total, 


51,586,900 tons. 



25 


If we deduct 25 per cent, for various contingencies, it will leave (after this 
most liberal allowance) 38,696,150 tons. 

If you should send to market and consume in your iron works 500,000 
tons annually, (and this is no extravagant supposition,) all of this extensive 
coal field, which seems, at first view, almost inexhaustible, would be entirely 
removed in the space of 77 years; but, in the mean time, millions of dollars 
may be drawn from it by proper management and care. I will make no 
calculations of profit; but, after allowing a liberal price for excavation and 
transportation to market, any one who has the inclination or leisure may 
amuse himself bv attempting to estimate the value of your property; and he 
will probably be somewhat astonished at the result of his calculations. 

The price at present paid for the excavation and delivery of the coal at 
the pit’s mouth is one cent per bushel. One man will dig and wheel out from 
100 to 150 bushels per diem. If, then, the cars are brought to him empty, 
and removed when filled, the miner will find it an easy task to dig 200 bush¬ 
els a day, which will reduce the cost tp one half cent per bushel in the cars, 
exclusive of the expense of contingencies and superintendence; but, allow¬ 
ing for these, it will not exceed three quarters of a cent. The pay of the 
brakemen, who will assist in loading, is included with the daily expenses of 
the locomotive; in connexion with which, estimates for the cost of delivery 
in market are given. 

A glance on the general map will show that the only rivals to the Frost- 
burg region are to be found at the mouth of Savage river and at Western- 
port, the depot for the coal on George’s creek; but a careful and impartial 
examination w ill satisfy the most incredulous that your company need fear no 
competition from any quarter. But, without attempting to draw any con¬ 
trast, and not desiring to depreciate any other interests, I will leave the con¬ 
clusions to be deduced from the facts contained in this report. The distance 
from Cumberland to the mouth of Savage is stated, in a report of an engi¬ 
neer employed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, to be 31 miles; 
and, in that distance, a rise of 324 feet, (more than half the fall fiom Cum¬ 
berland to tide,) which it is proposed to overcome by 42 locks. The esti¬ 
mated cost is $959,214; but, as the actual expense of the sections of the 
canal below Cumberland very much exceeded the estimates, it is reasonable 
to suppose that the canal front Cumberland to Savage will not fall short of 
$1,500,000. In a recent report to the president and directors of the same 
company, I find these observations: “ From these calculations, it is manifest 
“ that the coal region immediately w r est of Cumberland, and known as the 
“ Frostburgh coal, possesses, from its local position, an advantage over that 
u at the mouth of Savage. This comparative advantage is increased by the 
“ circumstance that the original outlay of capital will not be so great, to bring 
“ this coal field into use, as would be the expense attending the construction 
“ of a canal to Savage river.” The cost of conveying a ton of coal from 
Savage to Cumberland is thirty-five cents, exclusive of the expense of exca¬ 
vating and transporting to the depot. This latter element is so variable, that 
no general or average calculation can be made of it. But let us, for the sake 
of comparison, suppose that the boats at Savage and the cars at Eckhart’s 
are loaded, (a supposition most favorable to Savage or Westernport,) and 
what will be the result? Why, thirty-five cents per ton from Savage, and 
only seven cents per ton from Eckhart’s; making a difference of twenty-eight 
cents per ton, or one cent per bushel, in your favor; which would enable 
your coal to be sent to market with a reasonable profit, when that of Savage 
would not bear the transportation. I do not wish, however, to be understood 


26 


as attaching no importance to the coal fields at Westernport and the mouth 
of Savage; on the contrary, they are unquestionably of value, and, when the 
fields at^Frostburg are exhausted, they will, no doubt, be extensively worked; 
for then thev would justify the expense of a communication with Cumberland; 
and, indeed^ the necessity will then arise of extending the canal to that re¬ 
gion, otherwise the canal below Cumberland would yield but little revenue. 
And 1 if the demand should be beyond the ability of the proprietors at Frost- 
buro- to supply the article, the surplus would of course be drawn from 
Westernport and Savage; and that the consumption will be very great when 
the coal of this region is once generally known, no one can entertain a rea¬ 
sonable doubt. It may happen that the demand for this bituminous coal may 
extend beyond the ability of the whole county of Allegany to satisfy it; and, 
in that case, although the Frostburgh fields would realize the largest profits, 
the Westernport fields would be exceedingly valuable; and, under any cir¬ 
cumstances, the coal, in connexion with the iron ore, and the advantages of 
water power in the reduction of it to a metallic state, and the manufacturing of 
it when reduced, confers a high value on the property of that region. Much 
stress has been laid on the fact that the coal at Westernport, &c., is situated 
directly above the river, and that it can be excavated and thrown immedi¬ 
ately into canal boats, through a chute or “ funnel.” But when we take into 
consideration the friable nature of the fossil, and the elevation of the thick 
bed, equal to nine hundred feet above the surface of the river, it is quite cer¬ 
tain that some other plan will be found necessary in practice. 

In your letter of instructions to me of the 2d of October last, the question is 
asked, “ Are there any distinctive characteristics in the several mines!” 

I think there are distinctions in the mines, but not of a very marked char¬ 
acter; and the probability is, that the great body of the coal is uniformly of 
the same quality, when subjected to moisture and a given pressure. Accident, 
or some occult operation, has caused some slight difference; and 1 have been 
told by a practical blacksmith, working in the vicinity of the Frostburg dis¬ 
trict, that, for all purposes of the forge, the coal from Hoffman’s and Preston’s 
pits was decidedly the best, and would “ go further” in working than any other; 
it is not, however, so hard and dry, and does not quarry in such large masses, 
as that lying on the north or main branch of Braddock’s run, but would pro¬ 
bably yield, by the screening process, quite as much “ Wallsend” as the other 
mines. The new opening at Hoffman’s measures thirteen feet thick,* which 
unusual depth appears to have been produced by the supposition of a 3 
feet stratum on the 10 feet bed, separated only by a thin stratum of slate. 
This will yield in its 10 feet bed a great deal more coal (owing to the small 
quantity of slate it contains) than any other I have seen. In the celebrated 
Porter mine, for instance, there is from 1.8 inch to 2 feet slate. It is in the 
Hoffman mine that the iridiscent coal is found in its greatest purity and 
beauty. In the delicacy and brilliancy of its tints it defies the skill of the 
artist, and is surpassed only by the gorgeous colors of the peacock’s tail or the 
glowing splendors of the rainbow. Doctor Hildreth, in his able and interest¬ 
ing paper on the Valley of the Ohio, states that this iridiscent and rich appear¬ 
ance is often noticed on the best coal; and this fact is confirmed by my own 
observations. It burns very freely and is probably more bituminous than 
other coal of this region. I have also been informed that the coal from this 
mine has been preferred in the public works at Harper’s Ferry; but I did not 
receive this information, so far as I remember, from any very authentic source. 
Your Eckhart coal is similar to Neff’s, (which adjoins you,) Ward and Hoye’s, 


* “ The Vale mine.” 


27 

Blair’s, and the Porters’, excepting one pit of Josiah Porter, which has so 
little covering that it is inferior to the other mines. The mine which has 
been worked with the most care and skill is the Jack Porter mine, now be¬ 
longing to the Boston Company. The others have not been generally well 
worked, and are not properly drained, although it is a very simple and easy 
matter to render them perfectly dry: an exception is, however, found in Mr. 
Neff’s new opening, which is well worked, and will not yield in the beauty of 
its coal to any other in the district. 

The most accessible coal, beyond all dispute, is that underlaying your Eck- 
hart purchase. The opening on this tract is directly on the national road, 
which divides the farm into two nearly equal parts. Captain Picked, the 
engineer of the Boston Company, who was charged with the superintend¬ 
ence of the national road, says, “ The average inclination of the national 
road to Cumberland is one hundred and six feet to the mile. This inclina¬ 
tion being in the direction of the heavier tonnage, makes it highly favorable 
to the purposes of transportation of coal from the depot: two good mules or 
draught-horses will carry, with ease, on a Macadamized road, in cars with 
friction axles, five tons—equal to one hundred and forty bushels. The ex¬ 
penditure of the liberal appropriation made by the last Congress for the 
repairs of the national road would render unnecessary the construction of a 
railroad from the proposed depot to Cumberland, the present terminus of the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.” 

Besides the minerals shown in the geological profile, there has been found 
on “ The Vale” large quantities of hematatic brown oxyde of iron, yielding, 
according to the analyses of Doctor Jones and Major Powell, 55 per cent, 
of metal. This formation requires further examination before I can speak 
of it with confidence. It can be very readily reduced, and there is every 
reason to believe that it will be found in great abundance . Bog ore has 
been discovered in large quantities on the Hoffman farm, yielding about 
thirty-five per cent, of iron, and indications of it have been observed in 
different places. It has also been found on the lands of the Boston Company, 
and is, no doubt, very plentiful in the district. Your lands furnish ample and 
eligible sites, within the probable extent of your operations, for furnaces and 
the different w'orks necessary for the reduction of the ores and the various 
fabrications of the metal. For producing the blasts in your furnaces, in re¬ 
ducing the ores, steam-power will, of course, under any circumstances, be 
used; otherwise, the important, and, we may add, essential advantages of the 
hot blast must be surrendered. This improvement is becoming universal in 
its application at the British mines; and it is believed that no furnace which 
does not use it can ever enter into successful competition with one similarly 
situated which does. By means of the hot blast, or air heated before it is 
passed through the twyers, less fuel is required: the bituminous coal, which 
contains no deleterious substance, can be used without coking, even when 
it contains 40 per cent, of bitumen; and the most refractory ores can be 
easily reduced to a metallic state. As the strictest chemical tests cannot 
detect even the slightest trace of sulphur, and the bitumen varies from 12 to 
19 per cent, in the Frostbnrg coal, (it will be borne in mind that Doctor 
Chilton’s analysis of the Eckhart coal gives the extraordinary result of 86 
per cent, of carbon and 2 of hydrogen, the hydrogen and part of the carbon 
forming 12 per cent, of bitumen,) there seems to be not the slightest doubt 
that the Alleghany coal will answer for the reduction of iron ores by what is 
termed the “ first process,” that is, in its natural state. This opinion is con¬ 
firmed by practical ironmasters, artisans, and scientific professors. Dr. 


28 


Thomas P. Jones, a distinguished chemist of this city, and editor of the 
Journal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, says, in relation to coal 
from the Frostburg district, “ I am fully convinced that the coal under trial 
will prove to possess those properties which will adapt it specially to the 
smelting of iron without coking.” Judge Kenzie observes, in reference to the 
same subject, “ When at Harper’s Ferry, I saw and conversed with the 
workmen employed by the Government, who have used it for a number ot 
years, and they considered it equal to charcoal in the manufacture of the 
finest cutlery, and used it in its natural state.” Dr. Hildreth, in the valuable 
paper from which I have already quoted, (page 65, No. 1, vol. 29, Silliman’s 
Journal,) says, “ At the bottom of the best coal beds is found a deposite of 
about eighteen or twenty inches of great purity, and which, for the manu¬ 
facture of iron, is fully equal to charcoal; burning without leaving any cinders 
and very little ashes.” Your four and a half feet bed seems to be similar to this, 
and has probably been deprived of its bitumen by the action of heat, which 
has converted it into coke or charcoal. 

In relation to “the expense of making a ton of pig or bar iron,” Judge 
Kenzie states, in a letter to General Duff Green, dated December 18, 
1S35, “ As l am not a practical manufacturer of iron, we must arrive at the 
probable cost by analogy. When the subject was under investigation before 
a committee of the House of Representatives, the evidence concurred in sta¬ 
ting that the cost of charcoal necessary to produce a ton of bar iron is from 
forty to forty-five dollars per ton; the quantity of coal necessary to produce 
the same result could be delivered at the works on the Potomac for one dol¬ 
lar; and the iron ore, which in most furnaces costs from live to ten dollars 
per ton, could be delivered at those works for one dollar. It may be rea¬ 
sonable, therefore, to infer that iron, in any of its various characters of cast, 
rolled, or hammered, in consequence of a combination of water power, (coal 
and ore being brought under the most favorable circumstances to the same 
spot,) might be made at your mines in that relative advantage; or that there 
would be a saving of from forty to forty-five dollars per ton in the manufac¬ 
ture of cast iron.” 

RAILROAD. 

On my arrival at Cumberland, three different railroad routes leading from 
the Frostburg mines were presented for consideration, viz: Two down the 
main branch of Braddock’s run, and the third along the northern slope 
of Dan’s mountain to its southeastern termination; thence, through a re¬ 
markable pass near Percy’s tavern, to the southwestern slope of Will’s 
mountain, on which it runs to the vicinity of Cresaptown, and then, turn¬ 
ing the south spur of the mountain, follows the northern boundary of the 
Potomac river, to the basin of the canal at Cumberland; admitting for the 
distance of one mile and three quarters, a favorable terminus for the road on 
navigable water’.* 

MOTIVE POWER. 

The daily expenses of a locomotive may be estimated as follows, viz: 


For one engineer, - - - - - $2 00 

One assistant engineer, - - 1 - - 1 50 

Oil, - - - - - - . 50 

One ton and a half coal, (cost at mines,) - - - - 82 


* At this point the Company owns twenty acres making about thirtv-twoj hundred 
feet of wharfage on the basin; and the total cost of this road, of a single track, is esti¬ 
mated, in detail, at $79,020 48. 



29 


Repairs, interest, &c., - - - . _ - $3 25 

Contingencies, - - _ _ _ _ -143 

Brakeinen, to regulate descent of train, - - - 12 00 


Total, - - $21 00 


This will be the expense of delivering three hundred tons. To this add 
the cost of excavation, at three fourths of a cent per bushel, and the total 
cost in the boats at Cumberland will be twenty-eight cents per ton. Suppose 
the largest size boat is used on the canal, carrying one hundred tons, at the 
rate of two miles per hour, (less than the usual speed,)— 

Then tolls on one hundred tons, at a half cent per ton 

per mile, for one hundred and eighty-six miles, will be $9-3 00 
Two men, $2 00 per diem, 

One boy, 75 “ 

Three horses, 2 25 “ 


$5 00 “ or, for four and a half days, 22 50 

The return freight will probably pay expenses; but sup¬ 
pose it only defrays one half, - - 11 25 

For one hundred tons, - $126 75 

Or for one ton, - - - - - $1 26f 

Or for one ton from the company’s mine, - 28 

Delivered in Georgetown, D. C., - - $1 54| 


which is believed to be cheaper than any other coal can be delivered on 
tide water. Captain Ap Catesby Jones, of the United States navy, slates, 
in reply to interrogatories propounded to him by a committee of Congress, 
that the very best bituminous coal from Cumberland can be transported to 
the District of Columbia, when the canal is completed, at least fifty per cent, 
cheaper than coal can be delivered any where else on the Atlantic board. 

The price paid for freight from Philadelphia to Washington, for coal, is 
$1 50 per ton; and it can be carried as cheap to New York as to Philadel¬ 
phia from the District of Columbia, The expense, then, of one ton of bitu¬ 
minous coal from your mine, delivered at N. York or Philadelphia,= $3 04§ 
Or at Boston, - - - - - -=3 55 

Or at Charleston, paying $2 25 freight, - - n - = 3 80 

(More than is paid from Liverpool.) 

It must be understood, however, that the above results show the actual cost 
of excavating and transporting to the several Atlantic cities, exclusive of the 
expense of superintendence at the mines, the interest on your investments in 
railroads and cars, and other preliminary expenditures, and for commissions 
and contingencies. As all these items are so variable, and depend so much 
on circumstances which cannot be subjected to rigorous calculation, I have 
thought it advisable not to embrace them in the estimates; but, if the liberal 
allowance of fifty cents per ton be taken, your coal can be delivered in New 
York for about $3 55 per ton. The expense of superintendence, contin¬ 
gencies, and interest on the railroad, will vary, in an inverse ratio, to the 
amount of coal and iron taken from your mines. 










30 


The remaining drawings, together with a large sheet illustrative of your 
company’s property, are in course of preparation, and, when completed, will 
be submitted, with a few explanatory observations and suggestions. 

1 have the honor to be, sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

GEO. \V. HUGHES, 

U , S. Civil Engineer. 


Washington, March 14, 1836. 

Dear Sir: I herewith furnish the results of the analysis of the two speci¬ 
mens of coal from that part of the property of the Mineral Mining Company 
called Hoffman’s mine, that first given being the iridiscent variety. Pre¬ 
viously to making the analysis, I was of opinion that the iridiscence, although 
a very striking characteristic of this coal, was not indicative of any difference 
in its composition; and that the opinion of persons in the vicinity of the 
mines, that it was a richer coal, was, most probably, unfounded: there is, 
however, a very striking difference between it and ihe other specimen in the 
quantity of bituminous matter contained in them—that in the iridiscent ex¬ 
ceeding the other by 50 per cent. 

The specimen No. 2, it will be seen, is specially rich in carbon, yielding 85 
per cent, of coke; still it has enough bitumen to produce, under the action of 
coking, all that intumescence which is necessary to the production of excel¬ 
lent coke. I doubt very much, however, its ever being found necessary to 
submit it to that process, even when the cold blast is used in smelting. 

Not the slightest trace of sulphur was exhibited by either of the specimens, 
although they were carefully tested for the purpose of detecting it, if present. 

Iam, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

THOMAS P. JONES. 

To Major George W. Hughes, 

United States Civil Engineer. 


Analysis of two specimens of bituminous coal from the Hoffman mine , Frost- 
burg , near Cumberland , Maryland , belonging to the Maryland Mining 
Company; No. 1 being the variety which is remarkable for its iridiscence. 

No. 1 — Specific gravity , 1.291. No. 2 —Specific gravity, 1.333. 


Bitumen, - 22.5 Bitumen, - - 15 

Carbon, - 72.5 Carbon, - - 81 

Earthy matter, - -5 Earthy matter, - 4 


100 100 


THOMAS P. JONES. 

The coal which has been taken from your mines the last winter, for trans¬ 
portation to market, is generally estimated to be the most beautiful coal ever 
brought, in large quantities, to the bank of the river; and, as it regards its 
appearance, in comparison with other piles of coal from various mines, de¬ 
posited in Cumberland ready for transportation, I refer you to Prefessor 
Rcnwick. I have purchased boats to carry it down the river on the first 


/ 









31 


treshet, and hope you will soon have an opportunity of seeing some of it 
here, or in the city of New York. 

My opinion originally was, that your property, for reasons already stated, 
was superior to any other coal property in the rich .mineral region of Alle¬ 
ghany; and I have seen no good cause, and heard no good reason, to change 
this opinion. You will remember that, at the request of several gentlemen, 
now stockholders of the Maryland Mining Company, I accompanied you, in 
my professional capacity, when your first purchases were made. At that time 
the whole coal region was before you; property was not valued high, and no 
associations had been formed for mining purposes; the owners of mines were 
anxious to sell, and there was nothing to prevent you from securing those 
mines which were subsequently purchased by others; and, in a word, you 
had the choice (being the first purchaser) of the whole country. After a 
careful examination of the district, we entirely agreed as to the best locations, 
and the selections which ought to be made, and they were made accordingly. 
The opinions I then expressed could not, of course, have had any reference 
to other companies or associations, for none then existed; and there were not, 
at that time, conflicting interests of any kind. As an engineer, it was my 
duty to communicate my opinions freely to you, in relation to the property 
for which }'ou were negotiating; and I have found no reason to doubt the 
correctness of the advice I then gave; but, on the contrary, it has been fully 

confirmed bv subsequent examinations. 

###*##### 

The maps and profiles for the railroad are finished on a large scale, and 
subject to your orders. The materials have been collected fora minute map, 
on a very large scale, of your property and the adjacent mines, which I can 
have executed by a first-rate draughtsman, if you think proper to have it 
done. It will, I think, be of great service; and as it will address itself to the 
sense of seeing, it will do more to convey a correct idea of your mines, «fec., 
than any thing else. 

I earnestly recommend to your company to cause a very careful location 
of your railroad to be made, and, if possible, to have the grading finished this 
vear, in order that the ground may have time to settle, and become com¬ 
pletely consolidated before the rails are laid; otherwise, much inconvenience 
will be experienced when you commence active operations. There is a saw¬ 
mill on your property, that may be put in order for a small sum, and will be 
necessary to prepare timber for railroad cars, and the various other purposes 
for which you will require materials of wood. 

On my last visit, 1 left general directions to your employees, in relation 
to such little matters as required immediate attention; and will be happy to 
communicate any other information you may desire. 

I have the honor to be, yours, &c., 

' GEO. W. HUGHES. 

To M. St. Clair Clarke, Esq., 

President of Md. Mining Company. 


REPORT OF PROFESSOR REN WICK. 

New York, April 24, 1836. 

Sir: In compliance with your request, I made a visit to the property be¬ 
longing to the Maryland Mining Company, near Frostburg, Alleghany county, 
Maryland, and examined such of the layers of coal and iron ore as had been 



32 


laid open by the workings of the former proprietors, and those made under 
the direction of the engineers and miners employed by the corporation of 
which you are President. 

This examination was much facilitated by the careful investigations which 
had previously been made by Mr. Hughes; and little remained for me to do, 
except to verify upon the spot the results of his previous labors. 

I found, in conformity with his report, four several beds of coal, of 3, 4£, 
TO, and 3 feet in thickness. The uppermost of these has not been explored 
by galleries of any great length; and as it is in no place situated at any very 
great depth beneath the surface, it may be yet questionable whether it will 
yield coal of the first quality. 

The layers of and 10 feet, on the other hand, have been penetrated by 
galleries to such a depth that the quality of the coal is no longer affected by 
the action of external causes; and 1 do not hesitate to say, that I consider the 
coal of these beds as superior for common use, as a fuel, to any 1 have ever 
had an opportunity of examining. It unites the ready inflammability of can- 
nel to the durability and coking properties of the richer bituminous coal; and, 
when taken from the interior of the mine, can be extracted in iarge masses, 
which have none of the friability of that which lies nearer to the surface, and 
are capable of being transported almost free of waste. I would, in particular, 
cite, for its value in these respects, the coal which I saw lying on the bank 
of the river near Cumberland, at the depot of yonr company . 

Of the coal of the lower 3 feet layer I cannot speak from personal exam¬ 
ination, but may cite the universal testimony of the inhabitants of this region, 
that the coal of this bed is stronger, as they term it, than that of the others. 

These coals have been so carefully analyzed by Messrs. Jones and Chilton, 
that it would have been presumption on my part to inquire further. Taking 
these analyses as the basis of calculation, and adopting the ordinary hy¬ 
pothesis, that the value of a fuel is in the proportion of the quantity of oxygen 
with which it combines in burning, the average quality of these coals will 
have an advantage in the generation of steam, over charcoal, of about 15 per 
cent. They will possess an equal advantage over equal weights of anthracite 
coal, even were the whole of its carbon to be consumed, which is never the 
case. If, however, as is more consistent with chemical principles, the heat 
is not only proportioned to the quantity of oxygen, but to the intensity of 
the attraction under the influence of which that element combines, the heating 
power of the coal in question will become greater in proportion. 

Portions of the coal at Westernport, which has precisely the same external 
characters with that of your mines, were converted by me into coke, which 
appeared to be of excellent quality; and it is therefore a matter not to be 
doubted, that your coal may be advantageously used in all the manufactures 
which require the coal to undergo that preparation. 

In the manufacture of cast iron from the ore, by the use of a heated blast, 
the coal of this region must unquestionably be found superior to any which 
has yet been used, from its greater density and durability, united to its free 
combustion and freedom from sulphur. 

It will derive great value from the latter property in remelting iron in re¬ 
verberatory furnaces, and in making bar iron by the process of puddling; for 
both of which its long and clear flame renders it well suited. 

For the common forge I found it advantageously employed by the work¬ 
men in the national manufactory of arms at Harper’s Ferry. 

* * # # # * * # # 

The skill and intelligence of Mr. Hughes, and the very superior opportu- 


33 

nities for observation be lias enjoyed, make it doubtful whether the opinion I. 
•formed on a mere cursory examination be correct; yet I cannot help express¬ 
ing that it appears to me that the great (ten feet) layer of coal at Frostburg 
is the same with the main coal at Westernport and the mouth of Savage. In 
this case, the value of the property of your company will be enhanced; for 
other beds of coal, which are exposed in the southern part of this formation, 
will in all probability be found beneath the lowest yet found upon your prop¬ 
erty. 

If I cannot fully concur in the estimates of the price at which the coal can 
be laid down at the several markets, yet I am well satisfied that it may ex¬ 
clude all other fuel from the markets of Washington and Baltimore, and com¬ 
pete on equal terms with foreign bituminous coal, and the anthracite of 
Pennsylvania, in those of Philadelphia and New York. Still I cannot but 
believe that the use of the coal in the manufacture of iron, if undertaken 
with a sufficient capital, will be a more profitable appropriation of it than to 
export it for fuel; and the limited extent of the property of your company 
would, in such case, dictate that the coal should be reserved for this purpose 
alone. 

The line of the railroad marked out by Mr. Hughes was also visited; it 
would be superfluous to say of any work of his, that it is well and judiciously 
chosen. 

In conclusion, 1 have to state, that while there are more distant points in 
the same formation which possess even greater natural advantages than the 
possessions of your company, and which may at no distant date, by the ap¬ 
plication of a sufficient capital, be brought into the market upon nearly equal 
terms, still the purchase of the Maryland Mining Company is more accessible, 
and can be rendered available to its owners at less expense, than any other 
part of this region. 

It seems contrary to all geological analogy that coal shall be found on the 
eastern side of Dan’s and Will’s mountains. In this case, there is no other 
access to the coal region except by the valleys of Jennings’s and Braddock’s 
runs, and the gorge through which the north branch of the Potomac forces its 
way below Westernport. Of these, Braddock’s run furnishes the shortest 
and most direct route, and your company is in possession of almost the only 
lands which are accessible through it. 

JAMES RENWICK, . 

Prof. Nat. and Exp. Phil, and Chemistry in Columbia College. 

To M. St. Clair Clarke, Esq., 

President of the Md. Mining Company , Washington. 


c 9 










\ 


I 


/' 




\ 



V 


V 


4 



